It hunts in low light for sure on my a700. But on my a580 it is much snappier. I credit that to the superior focusing function of the a580. Noisy? Well, it's typical vintage Minolta glass, so somewhat noisy in comparison to modern day lenses. I spent less than half the cost of the modern Zeiss version on this lens - and it is worth every penny. Some say it might even produce nicer results than the Zeiss version. I might agree to that.

If only I had an a900, I could knock these 85/1.4 portraits out of the park! One thing I am learning however, is that if you are doing head shots at 85mm you should keep the face at about 35% of the frame to get optimum results. The shots were the girls' faces are 50% or more of the frame look too puffy to me. In other words, 85mm is not that good for tight head shots. Better suited for head & shoulders.

-- hide signature --

-=Chttp://cthompson.zenfolio.com"The wind blows over the surface of the lake. In this way, the effects of the invisible are made visible." … I Ching